function cells = rawxlscells(animal)
adata_dir = ImageAnalysis.Settings.AdataDir;
if exist([adata_dir animal '\' animal '.xlsx'], 'file')
    [~,~,cells]=xlsread([adata_dir animal '\' animal '.xlsx']);
    cellvalue =NaN;
    for icol = 1:size(cells,2)
        for irow = 1:size(cells,1)
            if isnan(cells{irow,icol})
                cells(irow,icol) = cellvalue;
            else
                cellvalue = cells(irow,icol);
            end
        end
    end
else
    fprintf(2,'rawxlscells.m: matching Excel file found. Aborting');
    disp(' ')
    disp([adata_dir animal '\' animal '.xlsx']);
    cells = [];
    return
end

